New Year's Resolution: Back Up and Never Lose Data

People, it's nearly resolution time, so why not resolve to do something completely painless that will do wonders for your peace of mind: Back up your data!

But it's too complicated, you say?

Baloney, I say. It's easy to back up data, and it needn't cost much, if anything. Here's some suggestions on how to do it.

• Go Online - This is by far the easiest way to do your backups. I've written about Mozy a couple of times, and I use it to store my data. It backs up files in real time, so I'm never at risk of losing more than about 30 minutes of work.
• Use an External Hard Drive - Simply purchase a large external USB drive (250GB will run you $100 to $280, depending on brand name) and install backup software like Cobian (free). It'll back up your hard drive every night automatically. It's probably overkill at 250GB, mind you, since you don't need to back up Windows and application files that you have on CD. My entire backup set, with music, pictures, and movies, is less than 40GB. Without music it's less than 7GB. Here's a direct link to Cobian, folks.
• Sync It Up - Got a second PC at home that isn't being used? Set up sync software (try GoodSync) to make a mirror image of your data on the other PC. If you aren't networked, the Data Drive Thru Tornado makes copying files from one PC to another painless.
• Go Optical Once in a While - Every few months I back up to optical disc for storage offsite or in a fire safe. A dual-layer DVD can hold more than 8GB of data.

When you make your backups, be sure to get all the important files and folders. The My Documents folder is obvious, but don't forget your e-mail, browser bookmarks, and data files that aren't kept in My Documents where they should be. If you use Outlook, you'll need to use a backup program that can access it in real time or export the data periodically (instructions here).

Remember, a multitude of backup strategies works best. I keep data synced to two or three PCs (depending on what it is), a copy of all my music on an iPod and another external drive, a real-time online backup, and the occasional optical drive backup. Is that overkill? Maybe not, but when I have a hard drive crash, I barely complain...I'm back up and running before the end of the day.

What are you waiting for?

UPDATE: Several readers have asked for info on how to back up their email. I've written on these topics several times before. Here are instructions for backing up from Outlook and backing up from Outlook Express.